engenharia genética – InnovPlantProtect

NEWS

InPP joins BioLivingLABS project - Bioeconomy at the service of the sustainability of inland territories

September 22, 2025
Blog, Highlight, News, Project
Ines Ferreira

InnovPlantProtect (InPP) recently received approval for an application submitted to COMPETE2030-2024-6 - Collective Actions - Transfer of scientific and technological knowledge - BioLivingLABS - Bioeconomy at the service of the sustainability of inland territories, led by MORE CoLAB - Laboratório Colaborativo Montanhas de Investigação, Associação, in partnership with the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB), the Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco (IPCB) and AQUAVALOR.

BioLivingLABS aims to promote the economic valorization of research and development (R&D) results obtained by various institutions in the North, Center and Alentejo. To this end, it will create an experimental demonstration network, the so-called Living Labs, The project will be held in the innovation hubs of Mirandela, Douro, Covilhã and Elvas. In addition, demonstration actions, workshops, an inland innovation catalog and training on intellectual property protection will be developed with the aim of encouraging the incorporation of innovative solutions in the business sectors of these regions.

Scheduled to begin in October and lasting 24 months, the project has a total eligible investment of over 740,000 euros, financed by COMPETE2030 - Thematic Program for Innovation and Digital Transition. For InPP, this project is a strategic opportunity to strengthen its mission as a center for technology development and transfer, boosting the practical application of scientific knowledge to promote sustainable development.

This initiative confirms InPP's commitment to open and sustainable innovation, integrating science, technology and regional development to respond to the challenges and potential of the interior of the country.

InPP took part in an Open Day dedicated to the cereals of Baixo Mondego

September 19, 2025
Blog, Highlight, News
Ines Ferreira

On September 18, the executive director of InnovPlantProtect (InPP), António Saraiva, the director of the New Biopesticides Department, Cristina Azevedo, and researcher Luís Grilo attended the Open Day “The Cereals of Baixo Mondego”, promoted by the Centro Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR Centro), at the Bico da Barca Experimental Unit in Montemor-o-Velho.

The event highlighted the latest innovations from the Coimbra Innovation Hub, from new technologies applied to maize and rice, to fertilization strategies, protection and the use of biostimulants on these key crops in the Baixo Mondego region.

Our team also monitored trials with biofungicides, including the product I21, developed with our collaborative laboratory to combat pyriculariosis in two rice varieties, which is being patented.

In an interview with Voice of the Countryside, Cristina Azevedo shared the work we have been doing in the area of biosolutions.

(Re)watch the interview here.

Image credits: InnovPlantProtect and Voz do Campo magazine

Maize in Portugal: phytosanitary challenges and new emerging threats

August 19, 2025
Blog, Highlight, News
Ines Ferreira

Maize continues to be the Portugal's most important arable crop, The sector has a significant impact on food safety and the national agri-food industry. Involving thousands of producers and generating tens of millions of euros a year, the sector is currently facing increasingly complex phytosanitary challenges.

Among already known pests and emerging diseases, there are risks ranging from cartridge caterpillar until Maize Rugose Dwarfism Virus (MRDV), The presence of this virus is increasing in Portugal. This virus, transmitted by the corn leafhopper, can seriously compromise production and is found in the climate change increasingly favorable conditions for its spread.

However, it's not just MRDV that's worrying. There are new threats that require vigilance, such as the coleopter Diabrotica virgifera or the MDMV virus (Maize Dwarf Mosaic Virus), already detected in neighboring countries, and also toxic weeds, such as the winter fig (Datura stramonium), which in addition to impacting productivity pose public health risks.

Faced with this reality, the answer is integrated and sustainable strategies, matching:

crop rotation and good agricultural practices;
careful use of insecticides to avoid resistance and environmental impacts;
resistant or tolerant varieties, where available;
research and technological innovation, including new digital tools for early detection.

As the InnovPlantProtect researcher points out, Nuno Faria, in the article entitled “The main emerging pests and diseases of the maize crop in Portugal”, available in the August edition of Voz do Campo magazine: “The phytosanitary panorama of maize in Portugal requires continuous vigilance, investment in research and the application of integrated and sustainable strategies capable of responding to an increasingly dynamic and unpredictable reality.”

To find out more about the main current risks and mitigation measures, read the full article published in the August issue of Voz do Campo magazine (pages 88-89), available on newsstands and online.

EVENTS

Pedipaper and urban sketching in Elvas Municipal Garden

May 14, 2021
Blog
Ines Ferreira

International Day for the Fascination of Plants is celebrated every two years on May 18th..

A pedipaper for 10th graders and an activity of urban sketching open to the public will take place at Elvas Municipal Garden on May 18th, in celebration of the International Day for the Fascination of Plants. The initiative, to which Elvas City Council (CME) associates, is organized by the collaborative laboratory InnovPlantProtect (InPP) together with D. Sancho II Secondary School, Agrupamento de Escolas n.º 3 de Elvas, and the association AIAR.

O pedipaper, The event, which is aimed at three 10th grade classes from the D. Sancho II School, takes place between 8.30am and 1pm. In the afternoon, the drawing meeting promoted by AIAR will take place, starting at 6pm. The aim of the pedipaper is to allow the students, who are studying biodiversity this year, to explore, identify and marvel at the different trees in the Garden - the largest green space in the city - and their differentiating characteristics.

As a result of this activity, InPP, Escola Secundária D. Sancho II, AIAR and CME intend to continue collaborating with a view to developing a physical identification system for the Garden's trees based on a QR code that will allow mobile access to a “digital brochure” with more information.

Plant Fascination Day is an initiative of the European Plant Science Organization (EPSO), which takes place every two years on May 18th. It is coordinated at national level by the Portuguese Society of Plant Physiology and by the ITQB NOVA, with events across the country.

Do the plants we eat really come from nature?

May 14, 2021
Blog
Ines Ferreira

What is natural about the plants we eat? If it weren't for man's intervention in nature, would we have the variability we have today? Would bananas, avocados, carrots and grapes have anything to eat or were they just seeds? These and many other questions will be answered in the debate “Do the plants we eat really come from nature?”, which will take place online on May 18 at 6pm to celebrate Plant Fascination Day.

“Do the plants we eat really come from nature?” is the theme of the online debate that ITQB NOVA, CiB, Anseme, iBET, GREEN-IT e InnovPlantProtect will take place on May 18, International Day for the Fascination of Plants, at 6 p.m.

Whether they're edible, ornamental or have medicinal properties, plants are always fascinating. But have the plants we know always been like this? Or has our intervention in nature led to the diversity we have today? And, after all, do we have more or less biodiversity to celebrate today?

The truth is that the plants we eat are a positive construction of the human species. If the plants that nature has given us hadn't been actively manipulated by man over the millennia, they wouldn't be enough to feed us. Instead of ears full of corn kernels, we'd have teosinto. Instead of full-bodied orange carrots rich in beta-carotenes, we'd have thin, whitish roots. Watermelons, bananas, grapes and avocados would have more seeds than pulp. And the tomato wouldn't have the variability of colors, flavors and properties that it has today. It was the activity of the human species that led to what we eat today. And we did so in order to develop plant varieties that would produce seeds or fruit suitable for our diet and that would guarantee us food security and diversity.

With the aim of uncovering what is, after all, “natural” about the plants we eat, the event will feature an initial presentation by plant biology researcher Pedro Fevereiro, which will include comparative images of ‘Before’ & ’Now’ plants, followed by a debate moderated by Luís Ribeiro, a journalist from the magazine Vision specializing in the environment and sustainability, with the participation of Pedro Fevereiro, farmer Gabriela Cruz, nutritionist Conceição Calhau, and chef and gastronome José Maria Moreira.

Anyone who wants to celebrate the fascinating world of the plants we eat should join the live event, from 6pm (GMT+1). No prior registration is required.

Fascination of Plants Day takes place every two years on May 18th. In addition to this event, there are other activitiesAn online workshop, a virtual exhibition and a guided tour are some of the activities to celebrate the fascinating world of plants.

The Fascination of Plants Day is an initiative coordinated at national level by the Portuguese Society of Plant Physiology and ITQB NOVA, with activities taking place throughout the country

How are olive and almond branches processed?

May 7, 2021
Blog
Ines Ferreira

It was on a beautiful sunny Thursday that a team from the New Biopesticides Department, involved in the XfSTOP project, went to Herdade do Álamo de Cima, belonging to the Eugénio de Almeida Foundation, near Évora, and returned with a car full of olive and almond branches.

And it wasn't, of course, for the pleasure of pruning trees. The aim was to collect samples of two crops that are very important to the local agricultural economy, and which are targets of the nefarious bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, for which InnovPlantProtect intends to develop a new biopesticide.

The researchers collected samples from four varieties of olive tree - Cobrançosa, Arbequina, Galega and Picual - and four varieties of almond tree - Solena, Guara, Belona and Avijor. This work will make it possible to isolate bacterial endophytes common to olive and almond trees.

The following day, Friday, the team processed the samples. They began by cutting branches about 15-20 cm long, removing the bark, disinfecting the outside of the branch to eliminate epiphytic microorganisms and macerating the xylem vessels with a buffer solution. This solution is then filtered through special bags, diluted, plated on culture medium and placed in an incubator at 30 ºC for around 15 days. Throughout this period, the appearance of colonies is monitored.